Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Conan's Own

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

Conan talks to The Forest Farmers co-founder Mike in Lake Placid about the versatility of birch sap and for a special Chill Chums syrup taste test. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan.

Conan O'Brien needs a fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com slash call Conan. Okay, let's get started. Okay. Knock it off you two. Hi Mike, welcome to the show. Well thank you very much.

Thank you for having me. Hello Mike, it's good to talk to you. Tell us, Mike, where are you talking to us from right now? Where are you in the world? I am in Lake Placid, New York, up in the Adirondack Mountains. I don't know if you've been here before, but it's a beautiful spot.

I've been here for about 20 years. I'm raising three wonderful kids, and I get to work out in the woods of the Adirondack Mountains all the time. This sounds kind of perfect. I have been up to Lake Placid. And of course, Lake Placid, am I correct? Is that the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid?

1980 and 1932. Yes, okay, I wasn't around for that one. Potentially 2026 for the sliding sports, we're gonna find out. I just got the word about that, it's not happening. Aw. Yeah, I'm the first one they talk to. The sliding sports we're gonna find out. I just got the word about that, it's not happening. Aw. Yeah, I'm the first one they talk to. The sliding sports?

Yeah, I'll tell you later, it's a whole thing. I'm on the board. But- Bob sled, louisian. Oh, those. Yeah, the sports where you lay still and gravity does it all. No.

Oh, come on. Well, I'm sorry, but it is. Just stay really still and you might get a gold medal. Wow. Don't move. Remember we just had a Bob Sledder on this? Oh yeah, that guy was full of shit. Hey, I stayed really still and I won.

Good for you, Bob Sledder. Look, this got off to a bad start and I apologize, Mike, but I do think Lake Placid is a beautiful place. And also home of the Adirondack chair. I'm gonna say the Adirondack chair is the best outdoor wooden chair one can have. It gives you the most back support. Ooh, hot take.

Yeah, that's my hot take. So, no, what's yours? So, so, so why not? I don't know very many others. Okay, go ahead. So Conan, why have you not used the Adirondack chair for the Subway Smores then? Well, we should have an Adirondack chair for the Subway Smores then? Well, we should have an Adirondack chair

the next time we're outside and I'm gonna demand one. And then I wanna keep it at the end of the night and I don't wanna pay for it. I want it to be courtesy of the Tee and Coco machine. Which means basically it ends up coming out of my- Yeah. I know some people who make Adirondack chairs. So if you decide to go with it.

I just think that's a fantastic chair, the Adirondack chair, check it out. It is, it is, it is. V, tell us, what do you do? What is your profession? How do you make your way in this cruel world? About 10 years ago, I founded a company called The Forest Farmers.

We, and my business partners, we own 10,000 acres of forest land here in the Adirondacks and Vermont. And we collect sap from lots of different tree species and turn it into syrups and sugars and all sorts of beverages and delicious food. So basically, let me cut to the chase, you're in the maple syrup business. Not just maple syrup, but other tree syrups as well, yes.

Maple syrup is our number one thing. I didn't know there were other tree syrups. What other tree syrups as well, yes. Maple syrup is our number one thing. I didn't know there were other tree syrups. What other tree syrups are there? We do birch, beech, and walnut. And there is another five species that we could do, but we're not in the right part of the country to do that. OK. I don't, that's strange to me.

I mean, maple is the go-to. And it's suddenly like you're saying, oh no, there's another kind of Kleenex other than Kleenex. There's Zorzabar tissues. So describe, what does it taste like? How is it different beets from maple? Or is that just an impossible thing to describe? No, no, so every different tree syrup tastes a little bit different. Some are very different

than others. And it has to do, you know, a lot of types of the types of sugars that are present in the sap and then how you boil it down. And so, right, beach syrup tastes similar to maple, but with more like a raisiny, fake type of complex to it. Oh, interesting. I'm glad you asked this, because actually, we have a syrup taste test to do. I have no palette. They all...

Let's bring them in. We have syrups here that we're gonna try. Syrups. This is fantastic. Now... I sent, yeah, so I had sent syrups for each of the three ChilChums. Oh, wow. So then you can each have a syrup.

Oh, look at this. That is, oh, this looks like Jägerbomb. Very, um. That is each, you know. Oh, wait, should I wait till we do it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's wait, let's wait. Okay. Okay, yeah. You can take us through this, Mike, what we're supposed to.

Oh, I see, each one, I understand. We don't each get a plate, each plate, yeah. Let's wait, let's wait. Okay. Okay, yeah, you can take us through this, Mike, what we're supposed to. Oh, I see, each one, I understand. We don't each get a plate, each plate, yes. It's a different type. So move the plates to the middle. And so you have your birch, you have your maple. What's that one right over there? This is pure maple. Oh, man.

That's a maple walnut. There's a pure maple, which is the traditional one, and then a maple walnut. That one's for Gourley. I think what we're gonna do is, I just want to have a few more questions before we start tasting, which is, I know when I was a kid,

I was tasting what I thought was syrup, but it wasn't. It was the stuff that you get at the supermarket. Basically, in the 60s and 70s, we were lied to. What was I eating? Not just the 60s and 70s. We're continually being lied to. The vast majority of people in the US consume the fake stuff.

The Entremont, Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cab, and all that stuff. So Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cab and all that stuff. So Mrs. Butterworth is a liar, is what you're saying. Does she not even exist? Was she a real person? Is she, I saw Mrs. Butterworth move on a kitchen table. She's gotta be real. I always assumed she was a very small person

whose body was filled with syrup. Yeah. Yeah, next you're gonna say, you know, Eggo waffles aren't real waffles. Okay, let's not do that. I'm sorry. Okay, that's just slanderous. That's like saying there's no Santa Claus.

You're such a conspiracy theorist. So anyway, that's just basically sugar and what? What is it? Well, it's corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and an artificial maple flavoring and a bunch of preservatives. What happened to this country? This country was founded on something important

and now we've lost our way, but you're gonna bring it back because you're talking about real syrups. Syrups that come- Conan, I know you're a huge history buff. You bet I am. Civil War as well. Not just Civil War.

Don't pigeonhole me. I know all histories. Oh no. Oh no. God, I think he got pigeonhole me. I know all histories. Oh, no! God, I think he got mad at me when I said not just Civil War, we lost his connection. We'll get it back. Don't worry. It's a matter of time.

This is tough because I really want to drink these syrups. I do too. They look so good. Is there something that can be dipped? Let's start with the pure. Let's stir. We'll start with the pure maple syrup. Should we go ahead and do it?

No, no, we're going to wait till he comes back, but we can at least distribute. If I had access to this much syrup, I'd take a bath in it. Oh, I don't think you would. I'm gonna keep that in the podcast. We're not recording anymore. We are still recording.

It's still rolling, for sure. It doesn't matter, the fan's gone. You know what I love? I'm gonna put that part in. This guy up in the northern reaches of New York, who gets syrup out of a tree, his computer went down. Big shock. His computer is made of balsa wood.

It probably runs on sap. You know, there's like a Falcon. What's that? What are you reading? I'm reading this thing. This is dark, robust maple syrup for Sona since she is traditional and sweet. Oh, that's so nice. Oh, so these are each tailored to us. Most normal syrup that we make maple syrup for Sona, since she is traditional and sweet. Oh, that's so nice.

Oh, so these are each tailored to us. Most normal syrup that we make in honor of Sona. Yeah, but we're all gonna taste all of them, I think. So the first one is the pure maple. Can you read that again? Yours is nutty, probably real nutty. All right, well, listen. This gentleman is not with us at the moment.

Can you hear us? I don't think so, he's not on yet. Well, I just think this gentleman who we're talking to, Mike, who makes the maple syrup, his connection has gone down because they don't think they have Wi-Fi yet in Lake Placid, New York. And that's going to cost them the Olympics

if they can't get it together. Yeah. How will people luge without Wi-Fi? Yeah, yeah. There's no way to luge. You can't luge. It's a no-luge situation. Why? Why am I laughing so hard at that? You're laughing because the fumes from the syrup. That's stupid.

He'll be back anytime now. And you know what? I don't know who sets these things up, but I'm sure- I cheated. Is it Eduardo? Who tests the signal? It's a team effort. Team effort, I see.

Well, that's a nice way to throw people onto the bus. I didn't say who was on the team. I said, I'm part of the team. Okay, don't worry about it. And listen, you won't be blamed, Aaron Blair. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm really sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm on the team, I said I'm part of the team. Okay, don't worry about it. And listen, you won't be blamed, Aaron Blair, for okaying a connection that isn't there. Can't we send these people equipment? Is there a way to get-

Oh, I just- I took a sip. Oh, you cheaters. I know. You're supposed to taste the head of time. I can't help it. I can't help it either. It's really good.

You should just take a little, take a little. No, I play by the rules. Oh. He's the older sibling on Christmas morning that won't let us go look at our gifts. I remember those days. Teacher, you forgot to give us homework assignments. There he is. Hey, you're back. You're back.

Hey. Hey, good, and listen, Mike, I want you to know that I take responsibility for that system going down. And when I say I take responsibility, I mean my bad team. I think you're gonna blame it on Eduardo or Sonia. Yeah, it's Blay and Eduardo. We call them Bledwardo.

Oh, wow. Bledwardo's a beast that screws everything up. Okay. So we're about to taste the, which is the first one we're tasting? Pure maple syrup. Pure maple syrup. And tell us, when was this harvested?

What's the best time to get that maple syrup? Is it the winter? Come on, dad. Let's go. Well, actually, the best time is right now. All right, then let's taste it. We're in the middle of maple season. Let's taste it right now.

Yes, no doubt about it, yes. Mmm. Mmm,, then let's taste it. We're in the middle of maple season. Let's taste it right now. No doubt about it, yes. Mmm. Mmm, that's delicious. Good, good. Mmm, that is heaven. That is so good. That is so good, the texture. Oh.

Oh my god, it's just like Mrs. Butterworth. There's something so wonderful about drinking out of a shot glass, too. Well, again, that feeds into your alcoholism. It sure does. I can't take too much of it straight. It's, wow, Sona! I know.

I don't know how you do it. I just have a little taste. And you have to taste with water on it. I'm a hummingbird. I will just drink nectar. You just want to lick it. That is fantastic. That is, I mean, the taste, the texture.

Well, because it's not the fake stuff, right? So the fake stuff is what people are used to, but when you get the real thing, it's that much better. Yeah, yeah. Once you've had, hey, once I've had this, you can't go back, you know? I can't go back. I'm gonna go home.

Well, you have two others to try, Conan. All right, what's the next one you want us to try? There's maple walnut and then there's birch. Well, okay, okay, so birch is much different than maple. Maple walnut is very similar to maple. It's just a little. Let's do that next. I can't talk about it because you guys are supposed to.

Okay, let's do maple. Are we supposed to clear our palate? Like with some. Oh yeah, take a little water. With some water maybe. Just take a little sip of water. Oh yeah, okay, sure. Yeah.

Let's read the description here. Maple walnut syrup. Matt's syrup is made from the sap of maple and walnut trees. It's mostly sweet, but just a tad, just a tad but nutty and- Stupid. Excuse me. I'm just reading what he wrote.

In honor of Professor Gorley. Thank you, Mike. Yes. Conan, you go screw. Go screw. Okay, here we go. Oh my. Oh my.

I really like that. I can taste the difference. I can taste the walnut. I can taste the walnut. Oh, that is so good. I love that you have the walnut, the walnut-y. It's got that just little nutty something. Yeah, nuts. That's for Gourley, because everybody loves Gourley.

I'm fast around. Who are you asking? Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Were you chatting up a bear in the woods? An elk come by? I like Gourley. Oh, I'm so happy.

Oh yeah. Oh my God. I really gotta say, I love drinking myself there. That's just, it's staying in there. She's so thick. Yeah. She's thick. Okay, so can I- Jesus, look at her go. I just wanna- You're like a, you're a monster.

I'm so happy. Mrs. Just, you're not even drinking all of it. I can't, I can't take that much pure. That's a lot of syrup, yeah. I can't do it. You don't need to drink it all. Yeah. I like to get little tastes.

No problem. You're the person that goes to the wine tasting and just drains the whole bottle. It's true. And they say, you know, you spit in this barrel and then you drink out of the barrel. Ah. Oh, this is, smells very different.

Can you read this one? You're gonna read. Ah! Oh, this smells very different. Okay, read this one. You're gonna read your... So Conan, it's very different in it. And this one is definitely for you, Conan. This is for Conan, since it's made from very tall, white birch trees. Mm.

And the syrup has a reddish hue. It is sweet and fruity, but slightly acidic with very unique flavors. That is me. This is a good description of me. Oh, man, I'm so happy. Is birch syrup gonna catch on, do you think? I hope so, if I have a great spokesperson.

Eww! Eww! It sounded unlike it. Eww! Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, my. No.

This is me? You're not supposed to have birch syrup on its own. So I was gonna try to like Warn you that like you people just don't drink birch syrup like you wouldn't just like a balsamic vinaigrette you know Okay, so it's used in cooking like it's not like something you pour in pancakes So like when you have a little bit why did you tell us that afterwards? Well cuz you cut me off and didn't let me say You're excited to drink yourself in

Glasses that were presented to us in a tasting. So how did I fuck that up? That's Yeah, it's a common That's our tangy. Yeah, it's a common It's a very common reaction. So but when you have birch syrup on like salmon or pork or chicken It is delicious. Oh, I could see that. It's how you use it. You have to you have to use it in cooking It's not something you would just drink like nobody would just drink. Like I said balsamic vinegar Yeah, you'd have to pour it into cups at a tasting And have it be the third thing you tasted

for someone to accidentally drink it. It's kind of accurate, because you on your own, you're a lot, but with me and Gorley. That's right. Yeah, we compliment you. So the taste of Gorley was fantastic, the taste of Sona was amazing,

and then when you two were quiet and we had a little bit of Conan, it was repellent. Yeah. It was sour. Yes. It was only supposed to be slightly acidic, not fully acidic.

I wouldn't say that acidic is the only issue. How's it selling the, the, the birch syrup? How's it going? The Conan one. So, yeah, the Conan one. Don't, let's not, let's move away from it. No, that's the name. That's the name.

Let's package it. Yeah, let's get that on the bottle. Get it on the bottle. Let's call it the Jordan. It is- It's Jewish Lasky. Let me do you a little favor here, pal. I don't know much about business and such.

I would put 99.9% of your business into the two maples, the walnut maple and the regular maple. I would try... Would you have a facility where you make the birch? Yeah, we do. Yeah, blow it up. Actually, a lot. Blow it up. No, I'm just saying. Just blow it Yeah, we do. And actually, it's actually a lot. Blow it up.

No, I'm just saying. Just blow it up. We do. So big blow up. Big blow it up. Explosion. We do put most of our effort into maple. That is our number one thing.

Good. Yes. But the birch sap runs after maple. And we have a lot of customers that do actually appreciate birch for its unique flavors that use it in cooking. Lots of different chefs can imagine if you're grilling and also based that on there. Oh, that'd be so good. No one would come around.

It just has it by itself. It's not just something you normally just drink. And then we also have a lot of people that buy it for just a sap as a beverage, because that's what's been used for centuries. People drinking birch sap in the springtime is like a spring tonic. It's delicious just in the sap right out of the tree. Is that where birch beer comes from? Birch beer, there's lots of different types of birch beer, but the birch beer that came out of America was actually the distillate of sweet birch or black birch in Pennsylvania. It has like an oil of wintergreen that's grown in the trees. And that's what they made the birch beer from.

Okay. Well, it probably took us down and unproductive. I was going to say, I've never heard of birch beer. Oh, birch beer is pretty common. Okay. You've had birch beer before. No, is that an East Coast thing? I don't drink much. Yeah, it's a Northeast thing.

More when Conan was growing up too. Yeah, when I was growing up, every now and then, my grandfather would pull up in his Model T and say, let's go get a birch beer. And then on the way back, we'd vote for Warren Harding for president. See, out here, we just have beer. We just have beer, you nerd.

Okay, well, okay. Well, I guess I'm the fool. We just have beer, you nerd. Okay, well, okay, well. I guess I'm the fool in this equation. Well, I mean. I, this is a, you have mostly a thriving business, I think. Mostly. Be wary of the birch syrup, and put a warning on the label, do not drink, okay?

Put a warning on the birch syrup label that it's not to be, you know, no one should drink it. Yes, yes. Oh, you know what, better yet, put my face on it, no one's gonna drink it. I think if we put your face on it, everybody would wanna buy it. No, we've tried that with other products.

Yeah. Really? We have a Conan fire extinguisher, and in fires, people won't use it. We have a Conan intubator, and people that are dying won't use it. The have a Conan Intubator, and people that are dying won't use it. The anti-Paul Newman. Okay, that's nice. You win this round soon.

Conan's own! Conan's own. All proceeds are stolen from charity. Yeah, all my money is taken from kids camps. The ship is sinking. Quickly, grab the life preservers. They're Conan's own life preservers. I'd rather die.

I choose to drown. Well, Mike, you're a good guy. You've got a nice business. I envy you living up there in Lake Placid. Those are cold winters, but what a beautiful country. What a beautiful place to be from. And congratulations on the upcoming possible Olympics where people remain perfectly motionless

and yet are given the highest prize possible in athletics. I think that's it. I think we're gonna- Oh my God. It was a pleasure, Mike. Yeah, we're gonna go make some griddle cakes and pour two of these three syrups onto it. And then afterwards not use the Conan defibrillator.

Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you very much, Mike. Take care. Bye. Okay, thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Okay, bye-bye. Conan O'Brien needs a fan. With Conan O'Brien, Sonam Avsesian, and Matt Gourley.

Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leal. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy. Supervising producer, Aaron Blair. Associate talent producer, Jennifer Samples. Associate producers, Sean Doherty and Lisa Berm. Engineering by Eduardo Perez.

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